Sunday, 28 September 2014

Remittances remain a key source of external resource flows for developing countries, far exceeding official development assistance and more stable than private debt and portfolio equity flows. For many developing countries, remittances are an important source of foreign exchange, surpassing earnings from major exports, and covering a substantial portion of imports.

The remittances industry should be safe, efficient and reliable. The regulatory environment is constantly changing and currently around the world items ranging from AML directives to taxes on remittances are being constantly debated and, in many cases, brought into law without meaningful consultation with the money transfer industry.

The International Association of Money Transfer Networks (IAMTN) will continue to enhance its work with all stakeholders and to represent the industry wherever we can.

As every year the International Association of Money Transfer Networks (IAMTN) is inviting money transfer professionals from all over the world to the major event of the industry - the GMTS2014. This year the Summit is the 9th Annual Remittances Summit organized by IAMTN. The event will be held on 11-12th November at Level 39, Canary Wharf, London.

Participants will be given the opportunity to meet potential project partners, find initiatives to participate in, collect information on innovative programmes aimed at leveraging the role of remittances for development, get in touch with stakeholders, participate in discussions, and promote their own activities.

Friday, 19 September 2014

Instant
Cash Global Money Transfer, a member of the Emirates Post Group, has
recently entered into a strategic alliance with Ria Money Transfer, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. that will give the
United States-based remittance provider access to the growing pay out
network of Instant Cash.

Instant
Cash is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Emirates Post Group, and its
services are available in 60 countries through more than 150,000
locations. The move comes a few months after Instant Cash, which enables
immediate remittance payment to the beneficiaries across its growing
global network, had tied up with India Post and Philippines Post amongst
others to bring thousands of locations within its growing network of
payout locations.

The
agreement gives Ria Money Transfer – the third largest global money
transfer service provider – access to Instant Cash’s network. It also
gives Instant Cash and its agent’s direct access to the global network
of Ria Money Transfer of more than 219,000 locations, including the
European and US markets.

Monday, 15 September 2014

QIWI plc, (Nasdaq:QIWI) ("QIWI" or the "Company") and UNISTREAM International Payment System of Money Transfers today announced that UNISTREAM money transfer volumes through QIWI kiosks nearly doubled in the first half of 2014 as compared to the same period of the prior year. In the past 3 years average volume growth was as high as 100% a year.

UNISTREAM and QIWI established partnership in December 2009 and introduced money transfers through QIWI kiosks and Visa QIWI Wallet web site. Further development was marked by adding an option to transfer money to CIS countries in March 2010 and later to non-CIS countries. In summer of 2011 money transfers through QIWI kiosks became available to holders of the UNISTREAM unified client card. Its number was used as an identifier for the transfer.

A special offer is available in QIWI kiosks for UNISTREAM money transfers until the end of November: a transfer through self-service kiosk is commission free.

There are two ways to do a money transfer through QIWI kiosk: either using the number of the UNISTREAM client card or by entering the names of the sender and the recipient. In the first case the customer should choose the appropriate button in the menu and provide information including full card number, full name, recipient's country of residence (customer can choose the country from the drop down list if it is not his first transfer), sender's phone number and the remittance amount; then the costumer inserts cash in the kiosk. The identification number of the transfer that has to be passed to the recipient is both printed on the bill and delivered to the sender via sms. If the customer uses second option, he needs to provide full name of the sender as well as that of the recipient, sender's mobile phone number and the recipient's country.

Currently intra-Russia transfers can be conducted through QIWI kiosk as well as transfers to Armenia, Belorussia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine as well as non-CIS countries including Bulgaria, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Israel, Mongolia, Czech Republic and Turkey. The user can send and receive up to 10 transfers a day with the maximum limit of RUB 150,000 and 40 transfers per month with the maximum limit of RUB 599,999.

QIWI's network includes more than 171 thousands kiosks and 70 mln users.

"Our longstanding cooperation with such significant partner as QIWI shows great results and demonstrates high demand for our services among both kiosk users and clients of our money remittance system." – said Kirill Palchun, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UNISTREAM bank.

"For the last 5 years Russia has been among the countries were money remittance services are very popular. Moreover, not only within country transfers are in demand, transfers outside the country play an important role as well, especially transfers to CIS countries. Rapid increase in volumes proves not only the relevance of our service, but also its convenience for such type of payments." – said Anna Stoklitskaya, managing director of QIWI group.

About UNISTREAM

The UNISTREAM International Payment System of Money Transfers is one of the popular systems in Russia and CIS countries. It operates in some 100 countries worldwide through some 333.5 thousand service points, including self-service payment terminals.

UNISTREAM has its own networks in Greece, the United Kingdom, and Cyprus. Over 450 financial institutions all over the world cooperate with the System.

The UNISTREAM System is the co-founder of the National Payment Council, founded under the aegis of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the Association of Russian Banks.

The International Financial Magazine named UNISTREAM the Best Money Transfer System for Eastern Europe 2013. 2012 UNISTREAM was nominated for IAMTN (International Association of Money Transfer Networks) Prize and Global Banking & Finance Review Awards.

About QIWI plc.

QIWI is a leading provider of next generation payment services in Russia and the CIS. It has an integrated proprietary network that enables payment services across physical, online and mobile channels. It has deployed over 15.8 million virtual wallets, over 171,000 kiosks and terminals, and enabled merchants to accept over RUB 50 billion cash and electronic payments monthly from over 70 million consumers using its network at least once a month. QIWI's consumers can use cash, stored value and other electronic payment methods to order and pay for goods and services across physical or online environments interchangeably.

Thursday, 11 September 2014

Kendy Money Transfer, a Pan African Remittance Service provider has launched its service in the country.

Kendy is the brand product of Kendy Money Transfer Ltd, an African money transfer company offering a bouquet of solutions to send money and make payments in Africa and abroad. Kendy is affiliated to Connect Africa Payments, registered in Mauritius.

Kendy is one of the money transfer companies recently issued with a license by Central Bank of Kenya.

Some of the services provided by Kendy Money Transfer to recipients include: transfers to cash, bank deposit, mobile wallet, and bill payments.

Mrs Rukaria said the potential for Africa remittance is huge as the market in Africa remains relatively underdeveloped. “Africa has a huge share of cross-border remittances flowing through informal channels and significantly higher remittance costs, than most parts of the world,” said Mrs Rukaria.

Kenya is a key remittance market as it receives, on average, 60 percent of remittances to East Africa and an average of 10 percent of all remittances to the Sub-Saharan region.

According to the Central Bank of Kenya, remittances to Kenya increased by 8.6 percent, to USD 119.7 million in May 2014 compared to USD 110.1 million in May 2013. Europe and North America account for approximately 75 percent of remittance inflows while the rest of the world (including Africa) account for the balance.

Mrs Rukaria said that though the company focuses on Pan African remittances, in its various markets it is rolling out domestic services as well.

Monday, 1 September 2014

Remittances play an important role in Somalia, supporting livelihoods and economic
development.
We know how important it is for you to be able to send remittances to your family and
friends in Somalia.
We understand that developments in remittance markets are causing uncertainty and
concern.
Government, community representatives and SOMSA have worked together to produce this
factsheet.
It aims to provide information on multi-agency efforts to ensure remittances continue to
flow through secure, accessible channels to Somalia and information on available options for
sending remittances.
We will update the factsheet regularly as new developments happen. But we also want to
hear from you through planned community meetings, your community representatives and
social media sites.
What are we doing?
The UK Government established the Action Group on Cross Border Remittances to form a
public-private partnership to address challenges in remittance markets.
Our aim is both to help banks have greater confidence in transactions and protect you by
ensuring that funds are transferred through secure channels and reach the people you
intend them for.
The Action Group, chaired by Sir Brian Pomeroy, has met monthly supporting dialogue
between banks, remittance companies, regulators and government.
The Action Group has three work streams to a) improve guidance on regulatory compliance
in the remittance sector; b) improve understanding of risk and c) develop a ‘Safer Corridor’
pilot for UK-Somali remittances.
New guidance has been developed for remittance companies and for banks that provide
services to remittance companies.
Detailed consultations have been held with banks and remittance companies to assess
understanding of the risks in the sector and identify how these risks can be better managed.
The Safer Corridor pilot for UK-Somali remittances is developing a set of measures to
improve the security and transparency of remittance transactions.
The pilot is a unique collaboration between industry, banks, regulators, government and the
community which work together through the Advisory Group to design and implement the
project. A stakeholder group is also being set up in Somalia.

Implementation of the pilot is on track against the plan agreed by the Advisory Group. A
design and consultation phase will continue until September to identify interventions. These
interventions will be tested and evaluated September to end-December 2014.
Leading technical experts are developing proposals to use technology to improve customer
due diligence and develop an independent ‘trusted third party’ to monitor and audit
remittance transactions from sender to receiver.
Discussions are being held with remittance companies, regulators and banks to identify
‘regulation-plus’ measures that can be implemented to make our MSBs ‘best-in-class’ for
compliance and risk management.
And, we will conduct detailed consumer research to understand how you use remittance
services, to ensure that they continue to meet your needs and protect your rights as
consumers.
The challenges faced by UK remittance markets are global. The UK Government is working
closely with international partners. The UK and World Bank succeeded in securing the
commitment of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion to call for action.
Information on all of this work can be found on the Action Group for Cross Border
Remittances webpage:
https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/helping-developing-countries-economies-to-
grow/supporting-pages/enabling-the-continued-flow-of-remittances.
What is happening in the Market?
SOMSA has provided information on which companies are providing remittance services to
Somalia. Currently, all SOMSA members remain operational:

About Me

The International Association of Money Transfer Networks is the only global international trade organisation that represents Money Transfer Industry / Payment Institutions providing cross border payments. Founded in 2005, provides a platform for industry partners to come together to discuss common challenges, industry initiatives, and create opportunities. IAMTN works closely with governments, regulators, regional associations and all other stakeholders to champion the creation of the most effective, safe, reliable and efficient payment system.